Astros stay in the win column

McCullers Jr. returns to the mound as Astros start 2-0 against the Mariners

Chris Campise
Jul 25, 2020, 5:03 pm
Photo by Tim Bradbury/Getty Images

With the first game and win under their belt, the Astros went back to work on Saturday against the Mariners in Houston. They worked behind Lance McCullers Jr., making his return to the mound after missing the 2019 season recovering from Tommy John surgery. McCullers would put together a strong start, and Houston's offense continued to stack up runs en route to the win and a 2-0 record.

Final Score: Astros 7, Mariners 2.

Record: 2-0, first in the AL West.

Winning pitcher: Lance McCullers Jr. (1-0, 3.00 ERA).

Losing pitcher: Taijuan Walker (0-1, 13.50 ERA).

Houston strikes first and builds an early lead

In the bottom half of the first inning, the Astros wasted no time at the plate, getting a one-out walk by Jose Altuve, who moved to second on a single by Alex Bregman, then scored on an RBI-single by Michael Brantley, grabbing a quick 1-0 lead.

Yuli Gurriel made his first hit of 2020 an impressive one, crushing a ball in the bottom of the fourth for a solo home run to extend the lead to 2-0. Later in the same inning, Kyle Tucker would end Taijuan Walker's day with an RBI-double to make it 3-0, and Martin Maldonado added two more on a two-RBI double to push the lead to 5-0.

McCullers Jr. provides six strong innings

Lance McCullers Jr. struggled with his command early in the game, starting in the top of the first loading the bases after a double and two walks. He would get a much-needed double play to end the threat, keeping the game scoreless. He had more traffic in the second inning but again was able to induce groundballs to keep the lead. His first clean inning came in the third as he was able to settle in, though in the top of the fifth, George Springer made a nasty collision with the center-field wall going after a fly ball, which resulted in a leadoff triple.

The Mariners turned that into a run with a sacrifice groundout, but McCullers Jr. would follow that with two strikeouts to end the frame. In the bottom of the fifth, Carlos Correa made it a five-run lead again with an RBI-single to bring the score to 6-1. McCullers Jr. would complete the sixth inning, even after allowing a solo home run to trim the lead to 6-2, leaving in position for the win. His final line: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 1 HR.

Houston's bullpen wraps things up again

After the scary impact with the wall earlier, Springer must have felt just fine, launching a two-out dinger in the bottom of the sixth to make it 7-2. In the top of the seventh, another Astro made their major-league debut, this time Cristian Javier out of the bullpen. Javier worked around a one-out single for a scoreless inning of work.

Cy Sneed took over on the mound in the eighth, and he was able to work around a one-out double by striking out three Mariners. Still 7-2 after eight, Roberto Osuna made his 2020 debut in the top of the ninth after being labeled as questionable to take part in this series after a slow progression in Summer Camp. Osuna was able to put an end to the game, throwing a scoreless inning to move the Astros to 2-0 on the early season.

Up Next: Game three of this four-game set will be on Sunday at 1:10 PM Central at Minute Maid Park. The pitching matchup will be Yusei Kikuchi on the mound for Seattle, going opposite of Zack Greinke for Houston. Greinke will be making his first meaningful start since Game 7 of the 2019 World Series.

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THE LEFT TURN

NASCAR rolls the dice in Vegas this weekend

Keep an eye on Kevin Harvick. Photo by Wiki Commons

It's been a season of surprises as the NASCAR Cup Series begins its West Coast swing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This is one of NASCAR's many mile and a half tracks, but this one is different as it is much more bumpy and when this track gets in the sun, it gets slippery as well. The track is a lot more narrow than the other mile and a half tracks as well, so there will be a lot more close quarter racing.

Last week at Homestead, William Byron pulled away from the field and went on to claim his second career victory. The Charlotte native battled back from early tire issues and ran as low as 31st until he was able to claw his way back to the front around stage 2 when he drove around the two JGR teammates of Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin to take the stage victory. There has been a lot of expectations and hype around this young phenom but in his first three years, it took him a while to grow into a race winner. It wasn't until last year when Byron claimed his first win at the Daytona fall race. This year he was paired with crew-chief Rudy Fugle. This pair amassed tons of success when they worked together in the Truck Series back in 2016 when they won seven races. It seems now that the pair could be back to their winning ways. This looks like this could be a good pairing down the line.

As we all know, this has been the season of surprises and those surprises continued last week as Michael McDowell went on to his third consecutive top ten finish as he finished eighth. McDowell has been sort of a journeyman driver. He has raced for teams such as LeaVine Family Racing and the now defunct Michael Waltrip Racing where he got his start. While it has only been three races, he's in the midst of a career year beginning with a victory in this year's Daytona 500. Many thought that victory was a fluke and that he was "wasting a playoff spot," but since then he has proved his haters wrong as he currently sits fourth in the points. Will this streak continue? I think it can. His string of good runs puts him in an advantageous position as he gets to start up front each week and knowing how important qualifying was, he has really been able to take advantage of this. Look for the #34 Loves Ford Mustang to build on this.

The favorite for this week's race has to be Joey Logano. In the fifteen races Logano has started in here, he has ten top fives and two victories including last season's spring Vegas race in February. He hasn't got off to the best start as it's been three up and down races for him. From finishing second at the Daytona road course to following that up with a twenty-fifth last week at Homestead. This week though I believe he can get everything back on track with a good run or a victory.

The driver that I am picking to win this week is Kevin Harvick. The future Hall of Famer has been stout this season with a 6th and 5th place finish. The speed for Harvick and his team have been there, but they just haven't been able to get the win. But this week he's going to a track he has excelled at big time. He will start from the pole this Sunday and that should really scare the whole field. He has two victories here and twelve top tens since his beginning back in 2001. I look for him to get his third victory here and begin another run for his second championship.

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